Your monthly update on legislation, guidance, interesting news articles, and webinars from the environmental sector.
Upcoming legislation
Environmental Permitting (Waste Controlling or Transporting) and Relevant Functions of Primary Authorities (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026
These draft regulations will replace the existing carrier, broker, dealer system in England and will require organisations and individuals acting as waste controllers and transporters to obtain a permit from summer 2027.
Applicants for permits will be required to demonstrate their suitability.
The permits will apply conditions, which may include minimum technical competency requirements on operators. Drivers of vehicles being used to transport waste must carry the respective permit number and unique driver number allocated to the driver by the operator.
Unlike other permits, waste controlling or transporting permits may not be transferred.
These permits will require renewal every three years to continue the authorised activity.
Exemptions
Certain activities will require a registration rather than an environmental permit, including:
- Controlling or transporting activities where waste was produced within a multi-producer premises (g., a shared office block with multiple waste-producing occupants), and certain conditions are met.
- Dealing with waste at the place it was produced.
Existing registrations
Once the new system is ‘live’, those with an existing upper-tier registration will be required to apply for the relevant permit when their registration is due for renewal. The EA will notify all current upper-tier registrants to make them aware of the changes and the need to apply for a permit (or register an exemption if applicable) when their registration expires.
Those with existing lower-tier registrations, where there is no requirement to renew, and who will be required to either register an exemption or apply for a permit, must do so within 12 months of the system going ‘live’. After this time, their lower-tier registration will cease to exist.
For more details, click here.
Source: Greenspace
Guidance
Animal Feed Legislation
Legislation applies from primary production to placing animal feed on the market and feeding of food producing animals. On 25 June 2026, the Food Standards Agency published a guidance page on key legislation affecting businesses involved with animal feed.
The guidance page can be found here.
Source: Gov.uk
SR2024 No 2: Using Unbound Incinerator Bottom Ash Aggregate in Construction
On 2 July 2026, the EA updated the standard rules guidance introductory note, specifying that activities should not be carried out ‘within 50 metres of a protected species or habitat that the Environment Agency considers at risk from this activity’.
The guidance page can be found here.
Source: Gov.uk
RPS 273: Recovering Unused Waste Plastics Coded 16 03 06
RPS 273 has been extended to 1 July 2029.
This RPS applies to storing, treating and using unused waste plastics coded 16 03 06 ‘off specification batches and unused products’ where any of the following apply:
- This waste code is not in your environmental permit,
- You operate under a T4 waste exemption: preparatory treatments, such as, baling, sorting, shredding,
- You operate under a U9 waste exemption: using waste to manufacture finished goods.
This RPS does not change your legal requirement to:
- have an environmental permit where one is required,
- comply with the conditions of your environmental permit,
- register an activity as exempt where you are required to do so.
However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action if you do not comply with this legal requirement if you meet the requirements in the RPS.
The link to the RPS, can be found here.
Source: Gov.uk
RPS 264: Shredding Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating Containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)
RPS 264 has been updated to the latest template and extended to 31 December 2028. The EA have clarified in the ‘Things to note’ section examples of methods which can be used to minimise fugitive dust emissions from shredding waste upholstered domestic seating.
This RPS does not change your legal requirement to take all reasonable steps to avoid contaminating other waste with POPs when you shred waste upholstered domestic seating at a waste treatment site.
However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action if you do not comply with this legal requirement if you meet the requirements in the RPS.
The link to the RPS can be found here.
Source: Gov.uk
RPS 314: Accepting Metal Shredder Residues and Post Shredder Treatment Residues at Landfills
RPS 314 has been updated to the latest version of the template and extended to 31 May 2027.
This RPS does not change your legal requirement to comply with an environmental permit for a landfill when you accept hazardous metal shredder residues and hazardous post shredder treatment residues for disposal.
However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action if you do not comply with this legal requirement if you meet the requirements in this RPS.
The link to the RPS can be found here.
Source: Gov.uk
Articles
Biodiversity Net-Gain (BNG) Scheme Closes in on £100m Milestone
The latest BNG Pricing & Key Insights Report from Biodiversity Units UK (BDU) estimated the BNG market at £93m annually. The value of allocated units from the scheme has tripled from £33m in 2025.
BNG regulation, which came into force in early 2024, mandates that housing developers in England deliver at least a 10% uplift in biodiversity on their sites. Where this is not possible, they may be eligible to financially contribute to nature restoration projects off-site by purchasing verified biodiversity credits.
The report found that BNG schemes consist of 97 distinct habitat types and that more than 2,000 units have been allocated across 7,572 hectares of registered habitat land.
Biodiversity Units UK’s founder Ian Hambleton said: “Two years ago Biodiversity Net Gain was primarily viewed as a new planning requirement. Today it has become a market approaching £100m that developers, landowners and investors increasingly need to understand.”
Changes to scope from July 2026, mean that so-called ‘small sites’ under 0.2 hectares in size will be subject to no BNG requirements, and ‘medium sites’, those with between 10 and 49 homes developed by SMEs, will face less stringent rules.
The report states that the rollout of Local Nature Recovery Strategies (LNRSs) during the second half of 2026 will increase the focus on BNG. Wider catchment areas will lead to increased competition between habitat banks and provide more choices for developers sourcing biodiversity units.
Source: Edie.net
For more details, click here.
Enforcement Action
Four companies fined £470,000 over incidents
Four Yorkshire-based companies have been fined a total of £470,000 after breaching environmental permits.
The EA has instructed the companies to pay local environmental groups following a number of pollution and non-compliance incidents.
As part of legally binding agreements, the companies are also required to take steps to prevent the incidents from happening again.
One company has been ordered to pay £215,000 to the North York Moors National Park Authority following the discharge of mine brine into Easington Beck and Staithes Beck, which resulted in around 700 fish being killed in June 2022. A separate company was ordered to pay £200,000 to the Yorkshire Dales Rivers Trust following discharges of silt-contaminated water from its construction site in 2020. Another company will contribute a total of £30,000 to three different charities following non-compliance with its fire protection plan at its plant in Hull in September 2020. A fourth company will contribute £22,000 to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust after the unauthorised operation of an anaerobic digester tank in August 2023.
EA area manager Martin Christmas said: “These four cases show that whether the harm comes from industry, construction or energy facilities, we will hold those responsible to account.”
Source: BBC
For the full article, click here.
Consultation
Proposals For a New Standard Rules Permit for Mobile Medium Combustion Plant (MCP) Which Are Boilers
The EA are consulting on proposals to introduce a new standard rules environmental permit (SR2026 No.1) for mobile medium combustion plant (MCP) that are boilers in England. Mobile MCP boilers (for example, those hired and deployed temporarily at different sites) are regulated under the Environmental Permitting Regulations. The EA are proposing a simpler, standardised permitting approach for these activities.
The consultation sets out proposals for:
- a new standard rules permit for mobile boilers,
- a generic risk assessment for this activity,
- how mobile boilers will be regulated and deployed,
- how deployments will be assessed and managed,
- proposed application and annual charge.
The EA are seeking views from operators, businesses, regulators, environmental groups and the public on whether the proposed standard rules and approach adequately manage environmental risks and are practical to implement.
The consultation closes at 11:59am on 30 August 2026.
The link to the consultation can be found here.
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Our services and support will allow you to focus on your core business activities while we handle the finer details of environmental compliance.
- Environmental Permit Applications and Support
- Environmental Permit Applications
- Medium Combustion Plant (MCP) Permit Applications
- Permit Variations
- Permit Surrenders
- Regulation 61 BAT Assessments
- Environmental Permit Training
- Environmental Permit Application Gap Analysis
- Flood Risk Activity Permit (FRAP) Applications
- Trade Effluent Discharge Consent (TEDC) Applications and Variations
- H1 Risk Assessments
- Dust Management Plans (DMPs)
- Fire Prevention Plans (FPPs)
- Odour Management Plans OMPs)
- Environmental Audits and Inspections
- Environmental Support and Assistance
- Waste and Materials Management
- Carbon Net Zero and Climate Change Management
- Environmental Legal Compliance Support Service
- Environmental Management Systems (EMS)
- Environmental Due Diligence (EDD)
- Construction Environmental Management Plans (CEMPs)
For further information, click here.
Events
What is Shaping the Future of Sustainability?
21 July 2026, 15:00-16:30
Environment Analyst’s Global Future of Sustainability Report brings together the views of environmental & sustainability consultants and their clients from around the world, revealing where priorities align, where they diverge, and what that means for the market ahead.
On July 21, Editor and Senior Analyst Cameron Franssen will present the key findings from this year’s report (due to be published early July) in this online event, to explore the questions at the heart of the industry right now:
- How are digital technologies reshaping the way businesses operate and compete
- What sustainability measures are clients deploying, and which investment priorities are rising up their agendas?
- What is driving sustainability delivery?
- How is this affecting business performance?
- Where do clients turn for sustainability delivery?
Following the presentation, a panel of global industry leaders will discuss these themes in depth, sharing how they are responding to shifting client demands, navigating emerging risks, and positioning their businesses for what comes next.
The session will include a live Q&A, giving you direct access to the panel to ask your own questions.
To register for this event, click here.
Environmental Services and Solutions (ESS) Expo
16-17 September 2026, NEC Birmingham
An event dedicated to the circular economy, net-zero transitions, sustainability, and biodiversity, ESS brings together pioneering solutions and expert perspectives regarding the management of natural resources and development policy across the UK and Europe.
With 15,410 high-level attendees in 2025, the expo is a meeting point for collaboration, innovation, and practical learning. Discover breakthrough technologies, hear the latest policy updates, source the latest products and services, and gain actionable insights to take back to your organisation.
For free tickets, register here.
